Through the years, many attachments and accessories have been developed for firearms including long guns such as rifles and shotguns. These include a myriad of forms of stocks and butt pads, telescopic and other improved sights as well as stocks with adjustable cheek pieces. Many of these, to an extent, improve the operation of the long gun. Additionally, many types of gun cases and covers have been developed from the hard sided fitted case to the flexible lined case to simple stock covers. The purpose of these covers is, of course, to protect the long gun from damage in storage or transit.
Often the stock is produced from expensive beautiful wood and finished with engraving, insets and attractive finish. Damage to such stocks cannot be allowed. Unfortunately, nearly all such cases and covers are necessarily removed in the field leaving the stock subject to damage from brush and terrain while hunting or other causes while on a skeet or trap range.
Apart from the need for protection for the stock of a long gun, there also exists, in many cases, a need for adjusting the cheek piece or rest to fit a particular shooter. Most long guns have symmetrical stock sides for use by either left or right handed shooters. Some long guns have built up cheek pieces, particularly for right handed shooters. The built up portions are outward extending oval integral portions of the stock. They are either custom carved or designed to fit an average shooter. These integral cheek pieces, when they fit the shooter, do provide a better feel and, we hope, better accuracy and comfort for the shooter.
As a further refinement, but usually detracting from the appearance of the stock are adjustable cheek pieces built in to the stock.
Even with adjustable cheek pieces, most are adjustable to fit different shooters using the stock long gun with its normal or iron sights. When a telescopic sight is added, the shooter's cheek should rest well above the normal cheek piece location and the stock is more likely to rest against the shooter's chin than cheek, an unsatisfactory arrangement.
One further accessory which has some utility for the shooter is an ammunition carrier which is at hand whether by attachment to or building into the stock. Having a few rounds readily available without leaving the firing position is favored by some shooters and thus, some ammunition cases associated with the stock have been developed including small strap on cases.
Examples of the foregoing are the following U.S. patents which represent the state of the art are:
______________________________________ 3665,990 GUN STOCK COVER May 30, 1972 D309,002 COMBINED GUN STOCK July 3, 1990 AND BUTT COVER D300,343 REMOVABLE CHEEK REST Mar. 21, 1989 FOR A RIFLE STOCK 5,031,348 GUN STOCK ASSEMBLY July 16, 1991 WITH COORDINATED COMB AND RECOIL ______________________________________